Railways has made it mandatory for contractors to carry electronic machines and issue receipts to curb overcharging.

In a bid to make train journey more safer and comfortable, Indian Railways is taking a number of initiatives to improve its catering and onboard passenger services. Besides airplane-like food and services, the railways has now asked Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to attach air-conditioned pantry cars in trains and make it mandatory for contractors to carry electronic machines and issue receipts to curb overcharging. Apart from that IRCTC officials are being trained to provide airplanes like services in trains.

Indian Railways currently runs 400 pantry cars in long-distance trains across the country, out of which nearly 30 per cent of pantry cars are reportedly in bad condition. The food is prepared using LPG gas, which raises fire hazard.

The railways has now decided to replace the LPG cooking system with induction cook tops in AC pantry cars in all the trains. Currently induction cooking with AC pantry is provided only in Rajdhani trains in Mumbai.

Rail minister Piyush Goyal has instructed IRCTC to provide a live feed of all base kitchens from where food is sourced for supply on trains. The base kitchen live feed will ensure that employees working at these facilities do not flout hygiene rules.

Besides, railways is also considering IRCTC-authorised food stalls at stations to provide vending facilities on trains to curb unauthorised vending.

To provide world-class facilities, the Railways is providing training to its officials to welcome guests nicely. Under Prime Minister Skill development programe, nearly 1,500 officials are being trained to provide world-level services on the train. The national transporter is planning to train 30,000 staff by next year.

Earlier in July, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani had announced that Railways will provide "high-in-quality- and-taste" food from July using Artificial Intelligence and CCTV cameras to flag irregularities in preparation.

Artificial Intelligence module will be installed at base kitchens to find anomalies through CCTV footage and raise issues for initiating actions.

The Railways provides 12 lakh meals per day, 10 lakh of which is served onboard trains.

The public transporter has come under repeated criticisms over the quality of food served. Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its report had termed the food served at stations and in trains "unfit for human consumption".

0Comments

Are you a Business Owner? Get Your Free Business Listing on Economic Times.